Journal Writing Topics for High School Seniors
High schools often encourage students to get into the habit of daily writing. Many school districts even require high school seniors to keep a journal during the final year of secondary education. Because schools often place only a few limitations on journal topics, high school seniors are often free to pick from a nearly limitless array of topics for their senior assignments.
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Self Improvement
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Self improvement topics serve as a ready source of journal ideas and can also help build high school students' self esteem during the journaling exercise. Andrea Kabourek, a teacher at Lincoln East High School in Lincoln, Nebraska, places the self improvement subject, "The 25 Best Things About Me," at the top of her list of recommended journal topics. Other self improvement related journal topics include dealing with stress, motivations for achieving results in school, college prep and application experiences, difficulty with school work and a list of objectives to achieve after high school or college. Identifying the difference between a positive and neutral attitude, goal setting, self expectations and feelings about self confidence can all enrich journal entries on self improvement.
Society
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Societal issues surface on a regular basis; social-minded teens can use these topics to spur journal entries. Societal topics can range from relatively mundane local government meetings to highly controversial issues, like abortion and war, that dominate national politics. Celebrity activities -- especially celebrity arrests -- can jostle high school seniors into journaling about their feelings toward the celebrity, the actions or both. Public schools in Broward County, Florida, recommend additional society-related journal topics like media censorship, rights restoration for convicted felons, mandatory drug testing and the relationship between poverty and crime.
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Technology
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Many teens use technology on a daily basis; this nearly constant interaction can help high school seniors journal their feelings about their gadgets. The organization of Broward County Public Schools added a number of technology-related topics to its list of recommended high school journaling subjects. Some of these topics include the car of the future, space exploration, solar and alternative energy and whether computers and cell phones remain luxuries or have become necessities.
Capitalism
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High school seniors ready to enter college or a career must learn about capitalism; journaling about commercial activities can help hasten this familiarity. Ken Stewart, a high school teacher and member of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, recommends many topics that are, incidentally, related to capitalism. Those topics include false advertising, credit card usage, media sexism, tobacco advertisements, the lottery and the role of automobiles as status symbols.
Current Events
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Topical items like current events and contemporary news stories can offer a wealth of journal writing opportunities. Stewart recommends current event items like ozone depletion, teacher shortages, Puerto Rican statehood and celebrity newsmakers as potential journal topics, but almost any evening newscast can give high school seniors ideas for journal topics.
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References
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